Former Heads of Artashat Police Station Charged

The Special Investigative Service of Armenia has announced that two former heads of the Artashat Police Station have been charged following sufficient evidence gathered during the investigation of a criminal case.

According to the charges, A. Hovhannisyan and A. Harutyunyan, who served as heads of the Artashat division of the Armenian police at different times, used their official positions against the interests of the service due to personal motives and committed official forgery.

A. Harutyunyan is accused of having committed these offenses in 2016, while A. Hovhannisyan is implicated in misconduct during the years 2016-2019. Both were reportedly aware that a police officer under their command had not reported for duty since the day of their appointment and instead was undertaking duties outside his official responsibilities, acting as a driver for a senior official of the Police's Main Division for Combating Organized Crime.

Due to their personal interest in assisting the aforementioned officer, Hovhannisyan and Harutyunyan abused their official positions, failing to document or take action against the officer's unwarranted absences. They subsequently approved the salary lists of the Artashat Police Station officers, which included falsified information about the officer's absence without valid reasons.

This led to the inappropriate financial support of the officers of the Artashat Police Station, causing a property damage of approximately 4 million AMD to the state, all of which has been fully restored during the investigation.

Hovhannisyan and Harutyunyan have been charged under Articles 314 and 308, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case against them has been completed. The case has been submitted to the supervising prosecutor with a request for approval and referral to the court.

Notice: The suspect or accused in the alleged crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia and by a court's legally valid verdict.